【英语习语】

against the grain

【习语注释】

该习语中的grain常用来表“谷物；细粒”，但在该习语中其本义为“（树木的）纹理”，用来喻指人的倾向或意愿。(to be/go) against the grain用来喻指是“to be/go gainst one's inclination or natural tendency”，即“违背某人的意愿或自然倾向”，也就是我们常说的“与...格格不入”或“事与愿违”或“有违本性”。

【习语运用】

In splitting wood, don't try to go against the grain.

劈柴时，不要试图逆其纹理（要顺其纹理）。

Some people, however, go against the grain by pursuing a life of" inaction", simplicity and tranquility.

与之相反，有些人却在日益追求着一种生活的“无为”与恬静淡泊。

Enterprise must has the strongest ability to meet an emergency in the new economy, but the conventional form of organization is against the grain with this desire.

在新经济条件下，企业必须具有极强的应变能力，而传统的组织结构形式显然与这一要求格格不入。

【闲话习语】

该习语的确切来源无从查起，其字面意思（逆着树木的纹理）很少使用。较早使用该习语的引申义的人是莎士比亚（Shakespeare），他在其代表作之一《科里奥兰纳斯》（Coriolanus，1607）中曾这么写道：

SICINIUS:

Say, you chose him More after our commandment than as guided By your own true affections, and that your minds, Preoccupied with what you rather must do Than what you should, made you against the grain To voice him consul: lay the fault on us.

那么，你还知道英语里“事与愿违”的其它说法吗？欢迎留言探讨。